Danny and Lindsay According To
by ReJo
Summary: Danny is supposed to be going to a scene with Mac, but he’s in the break room sleeping. Why? This is a continuation of “Life According To…”
1. Mac

**Danny and Lindsay According To…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; this is simply my imagination put to paper.**

**Summary:** Danny is supposed to be going to a scene with Mac, but he's in the break room sleeping. Why?

**A/N: **This is a continuation of "Life According To…" It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I changed my mind. I'm also going to add to the original story. In other words, neither story is complete 

Please pay attention to the dates and times. I hope I have them right.

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**Chapter 1 - Mac**

**July 3, 8:56 AM**

"Danny!" Mac yelled as he stood in the doorway of the break room.

Startled, Danny bolted upright on the sofa that he was lying on with his eyes bugged open, glasses crooked, and breathing heavily.

"Yeah, Mac. I'm coming." He said, obviously trying to figure out where he was and where he was supposed to be going. The only familiar thing to him was Mac's voice. The first couple of times Mac had called his name, it had integrated into his dream. He couldn't figure out why Mac was hollering at him in his own bedroom while he was making out with Montana.

"Danny, I called you and told you to meet me at the elevators in five. That was 20 minutes ago." Danny had no idea how to get himself out of this situation. Mac was livid and he was the cause of it. He thought he had outgrown becoming the object of his boss' ire. Obviously not.

Mac hated losing control, but if anyone could make him do it, it was Danny. He decided to make a conscious effort to try to reel in his anger and show that he had not lost every bit of control that he ever had. He walked over to the sofa and towered over Danny, who remained seated. He lowered his voice and said, "The only way you will escape censure is if this is medical-related and you produce a note from your doctor – now. Is it …medical-related, Danny?"

Danny closed his eyes and moaned, "Awww, geez." He ran his hands through his hair as he tried to wipe away the fog that kept him from forming a coherent answer.

"Mac…"

Just then something caught Mac's eye and his expression went from anger to shock. He pointed at something and he stammered, "Wwwwhat…is…_that_, Danny?"

**July 3, 6:00 AM**

_As Danny pursued the suspect on foot, he gazed back to see where Flack was, knowing that his show of concern would cause him to lose his momentum for a few seconds. The tar roof of the apartment complex radiated heat and caused it to become tacky. _

_The suspect approached the edge of the roof as if it extended another hundred yards. He leaped and seemed to suspend in the air before landing on the roof of the adjacent building. As Danny leaped after him, the sound of a siren broke his stride. He flailed his arms, as if fighting gravity, but it was of no use. Danny began falling between the two buildings, almost close enough to catch on to the fire escape, but not quite. The siren rang louder, still._

Danny's eyes flew open and he grabbed the mattress tightly to save himself from 'falling.' Lying very still, he allowed his eyes to take in his surroundings without moving his head, while his heart seemed to be trying to emancipate itself from his chest. It took him a few seconds to recognize that the 'siren' was his alarm (which he promptly silenced), and another minute or so to calm his physical responses to his dream; his pulse rate lowered and his breathing began to normalize. He slowly let go of the bedding, and as he moved his left hand, he felt something warm and soft. He looked to his left and found the outline of a woman lying diagonally on his king-size bed. Her hair obscured her face, but he didn't need to see her face to know who she was.

A smile crossed his face as he slowly rolled on his side to face her and get closer to her while trying not to wake her. He moved her hair from her face and kissed her cheek. His hand moved down to her neck, then to her back before she began to stir.

"Mmmm?"

"Go back to sleep, Montana," he said, with the remnants of sleep still evident in his voice.

She opened one eye and looked at the man beside her. She felt as if she had run a marathon that she was ill-prepared for, but she knew that she hadn't. What she _had_ done, however, was spend the night making love to the man beside her – over and over again. She couldn't help it that she was in her sexual prime. She reminded him of that every time she nudged, kissed, or touched him to wake him up for another round. He tried to tell her that it wasn't fair, after all, he had to wake up at six to go to work, and she didn't have to report until noon.

"Morning, Messer," she managed to say, although half of her face was entrenched in the pillow.

He couldn't help but smile. "Morning, Montana."

She closed the eye that she had opened.

"You know, I have to get up and go to work this morning, and I'm tired. Got any idea why that might be?"

"None at all," she muttered.

"I love having sex with you, I really do," he explained slowly, being careful of the words he chose, "but you have got to recognize that we are not all in our sexual prime, and some of us need sleep."

"Mmmmm. You're a young man. Quit complaining," she said groggily. "You kept up with me, didn't you?"

"Yeah, tell Mac that when I go to sleep standing up. I'm sure that will keep him from firing me."

That made her laugh.

**July 2, 10:33 PM**

They tumbled through the door of Danny's apartment, almost collapsing into a heap on the floor. Danny managed to stabilize them before they fell, although they remained in each other's grasp. Their hands were all over each other and so were their lips, but they managed to make their way to the bed. When Danny finally tried to let her go so that he could remove his clothing, she held on to him even tighter.

"God, Montana." He looked at her and for the first time he doubted whether he could fully satisfy her. He _knew_ that he could satisfy a woman, but he could not recall _ever_ seeing a look of hunger in a woman's eyes that was that strong. He knew that once wasn't going to cut it. According to research, men reach their sexual peak at about 19 years of age, whereas women reach theirs when they are in their thirties.

Danny was in trouble.

**June 30, 7:35 PM**

Turning away from the small window Lindsay whispered, "I can't believe we're doing this."

He scanned her face for any sign of doubt. Had she changed her mind? She seemed so sure before. Or had he pushed her?

**June 30, 8:55 AM**

"Danny, what are we going to do with three whole days off? I can't believe that both of our long weekends occurred at the same time. What are the odds of that happening?"

Danny seemed quite distracted. "Umm…yeah, right."

She grabbed his forearm. "You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening."

"So, what do you want to do?"

She could tell by the look on his face that he had come up with the perfect plan.

"I want to get married."

Or maybe not.

"Yeah, right. Come on, what do you feel like doing?"

"_I want to get married," _he stated resolutely.

"But, Danny…"

"Do you love me, Lindsay?"

"Yes, Danny, but…"

"'But' nothing, Lindsay. I love you, you love me – you have me sounding like fricking Barney over here. What reason could you possibly give me for not getting married?"

Lindsay stuttered and stammered, trying to verbalize a reason why this was not a good idea, but she couldn't come up with one. She looked at him, all of the non-existent reasons for not marrying him gone from her mind.

Danny got close to her and said, "Say 'yes' Lindsay." _Kiss._ "Say 'yes' Lindsay." _Kiss._ "Say 'yes' Lindsay." _Kiss. _He was asking her with everything he had.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips. _ Kiss._ The last kiss slowly turned passionate.

"Are you sure about this, Danny?"

"Montana, I've never been more sure about anything in my life."

**CSI:NY**

**July 3, 9:05 AM**

Mac couldn't believe the story he was hearing. At least his eyes weren't deceiving him: he _did_ see a wedding ring on Danny's finger. Of course, he could have done without some of the details; they weren't graphic, just a bit too much information. Danny's explanation certainly couldn't be classified as 'medical,' but seeing as this was a life-altering situation he decided to cut him some slack – well, a lot of slack.

"So, what you're saying is that over the weekend you and Lindsay got married?"

Danny nodded tiredly.

"And your excuse for sleeping on the job is that your new wife kept you up all night?"

Danny winced and said, "Please don't let that get around."

Mac chuckled. "You mean the part where your wife wore you out? Are you serious? Do you think I could keep that to myself?"

Danny shut his eyes tight and grimaced.

"Does Flack know about you and Lindsay?"

Danny shook his head.

"This is going to be fun." Mac retreated toward the doorway, but he stopped short and turned towards Danny again. "Let's go. Flack's waiting for us at the scene."

He thought about how pathetic Danny looked and how sure he had been a few minutes ago that he was going to fire him for sleeping at work. _Only Danny could have an excuse like that._

Danny got up and walked with Mac to the elevator.

"You know, Mac, she's not the only reason I'm tired. We got in from Vegas late last night…"

"_Sure_. Whatever, Danny. If you want, when we finish up here, you can go home to…"

"NO! I can't." He thought about how his words must have sounded and explained quietly, "Look, Mac. I never thought I'd say this, but I'll get more rest here than I'll get at home. You understand, right?" He was begging for him to understand.

Mac simply shook his head. "Can't say that I do."

The entire way to the crime scene was spent with Danny trying to persuade Mac not to ruin his reputation by telling his coworkers that he couldn't keep up with his Montana. The more he explained, the more Mac laughed.

_She's going to be the end of me._


	2. Flack

**Danny and Lindsay According To…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; this is simply my imagination put to paper.**

**Summary:** Flack interrogates Danny

**Chapter 2 – Flack**

When Mac and Danny finally arrived at the scene, they were greeted by a rotund middle-aged detective who felt compelled to make a comment about Danny's appearance.

"Good god, Messer! What happened to you?" he teased, trying to stifle his laughter.

Danny knew that he looked bad, but he didn't know that he looked _that_ bad. He thought that he could pull himself together on the drive to the scene. He wanted to tell Detective Johanssen what he could do with his remarks, but as soon as he spotted Flack, he prepared himself for even more public humiliation.

Just as Danny and Mac approached Flack, Flack turned around and spotted the pair. He made a face that could only mean one thing – he was swooping in for the kill. He took notice of the dark circles under his friend's eyes and the redness that was present.

"Three days off weren't enough for you, Messer? You look like hell!"

Danny barely made eye contact with him and said sarcastically, "Thanks, Flack."

As Danny walked past him, Flack noticed the smirk on Mac's face. Usually at a scene, Mac was quite stoic. The DB wasn't going anywhere so he decided to investigate this secondary "crime scene." He silently asked Mac what was wrong with Danny, but all he got in return was a huge smile and a gesture toward Danny, as if to say, "Ask him."

He turned quickly on his heels and kept pace with Danny. Since Flack was not known to be shy he was not going to let this rest. When Danny stopped to squat to collect a sample, Flack squatted next to him. Danny knew that this wasn't going to be over until he had told everyone what happened, but he wasn't going to make it easy for them.

"So, Messer," Flack started. "What's up?"

Danny didn't bother to look at him, hoping to discourage his friend's curiosity.

"Just need to catch up on some sleep, that's all. You gonna work or you gonna talk?"

"I'm gonna talk. So, what's going on with you that's got Mac smiling at a crime scene?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Flack."

"Oh, come off of it, Messer. You know damn well what I'm talking about. I'm going to find out sooner or later. What happened? Did you finally…"

Just then, the shiny gold band caught his eye. His eyes flew open and he exclaimed,

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, MESSER?"

Danny still refused to look at him.

"What does it look like, Flack? And you wonder why _I'm_ the CSI."

"Danny, is that what I think it is?"

"And what, pray tell, do you think it is?"

Flack rubbed his eyes and squinted to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Did you…When…What…How…What the hell is going on, Messer?"

Danny realized that at this point Flack wasn't going to let it go, so he told him matter-of-factly, "I got married. Okay?"

"WHAT? You did WHAT?"

Danny finally looked at him, the exasperation evident on his face. He enunciated his words quite clearly, "I said, 'I got married.'"

"WHAT?"

Danny sighed dramatically and resumed processing.

"Wait a minute, Messer. You can't drop a bomb like that on me and expect that to be the end of it. Who the hell married _you_?"

"Thanks for your vote of confidence, my friend. I'll have you know that there are lots of women who would have loved to marry me, but there was only one who was worthy of the privilege."

Flack rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Lindsay."

"Yes, Lindsay and I are married. She is now Mrs. Lindsay _Messer_. Now that that's all cleared up, can we please get back to work?"

"No, we cannot get back to work. I want details!" Flack exclaimed rather loudly.

Danny looked around to see who had heard him, stood up and grabbed his friend's arm, almost knocking him over in the process.

"Can you keep it down? Do you know what will happen if these guys found out I got hitched? They'll make my life miserable!" Danny hissed quietly.

"They're gonna find out anyway, Messer. Anyway, I'm not trying to put your business in the streets, _I _want the details." The look that he gave Danny made it clear that he wasn't dropping the subject until he was satisfied. Danny sighed heavily and conceded defeat.

"There's not much to tell. We had a few days off, I suggested we get married…"

"YOU suggested…"

"We flew to Vegas, got married, and here we are. Satisfied, Old Lady Flack?"

"Wait a minute, Messer. YOU suggested marriage? What is this world coming to? I thought for sure I'd get hitched before you did." Flack looked at him and laughed, then turned and walked away.

Before exiting the room he turned back to Danny and said seriously, "Congratulations. You have a good wife. You'd better be good to her or else…"

"Or else what?" Danny barked with a smirk.

"Or else I'll sic Stella on you!"

Flack noticed Danny's contorted face at the mention of Stella's name.

"She doesn't know?" Flack asked in an amused manner. He took out his cell phone, began dialing and left the room, leaving a trail of his maniacal laughter behind him.


	3. Stella

**Danny and Lindsay According To…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; this is simply my imagination put to paper.**

A/N: This is in first person. I don't know why I felt the need to write Stella's chapter this way.

**Chapter 3 – Stella**

So I'm indulging in a bit of retail therapy when I get a brief phone call: "Stop by Danny's place ASAP." He hangs up. Why is Flack giving me a cryptic message? It couldn't be an emergency or he would have elaborated. My interest has been piqued; this must be juicy. What is Danny up to now? I though for sure he was working today. I don't even have to let my imagination run away with me when I bolt out of the door and find my way to his apartment.

**CSI:NY**

Fortunately, the front door is propped open because someone is moving out of the building. I hate giving away the element of surprise! I'm not sure how this will turn out, but it had better be good, seeing as I had to cut my shopping trip short. I hadn't even made it to Tiffany's yet.

I'm winded by the fourth floor and I'm cursing Danny's need to live in this building. Not only does he live far from the best shopping, he insists on hosting all of the Superbowl parties, but now he's up to something that is luring me to his apartment at midday. _This had better be good!_

The loud creaking of the heavy door leading from the stairwell to the hallway startled me as it does every time I hear it. As I approach the apartment door it begins to open and a scantily clad female form appears just beyond the doorframe and bends down to pick up the newspaper that's on the ground just outside of the apartment. She looks vaguely familiar, and although I'm right by the door she doesn't notice that I'm standing there. As she returns to an upright position she turns to my direction and flinches and gasps with her eyes wide open and her hand to her mouth.

"Lindsay?" I say as I realize why just who this person is.

"Stella! What are you doing here?" I notice that her eyes are a bit shifty, denoting guilt about something. Is she not supposed to be here? What's going on?

She continues, "I…I was just getting the paper. One of our neighbors stole it again so I had to call for another one and…"

She was rambling about a newspaper, but I knew that whatever was contained in those pages was nothing compared to the story I was working on.

I could tell that she was quite uncomfortable with me there, but there was no way I was leaving without a full investigation. I pushed my way inside, and as Lindsay went to retrieve her robe, I looked around for any hard evidence that she had actually moved in. I didn't see any.

When Lindsay returned, she looked a bit less like a trapped animal. I felt sorry for her, I really did, but I had a duty to find out what was going on. I took a seat at the breakfast bar and she followed suit.

"Have you and Danny moved in together?"

"Well…I…I guess you can say that."

"Really?? When did this happen? I knew that you two were going out, but I didn't know it was that serious."

She hesitated, then she took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and thrust out her left hand to me.

"Wait…What…_What?_ What is _that_?"

Lindsay's deer-in-headlights look transformed into a mischievous smile, which gave birth to a fit of giggles.

"Lindsay, _come on_! You're not telling me…"

She raised one eyebrow which let me know that my eyes weren't deceiving me.

"Oh, my goodness! Congratulations! When did this happen? _Where_ did this happen?" Suddenly, the realization hit me. "Wait a minute! You two got married and didn't invite _me_?"

It took a while, but Lindsay finally managed to placate me. She gave me the details of the wedding, explained that it was a spur of the moment decision, and showed me the pictures taken by the chapel's photographer. Seeing them so happy together erased all of my hurt over not being invited. I mean, come on, _Danny and Lindsay getting married?_ Who wouldn't want to see that happen? After all Danny put Lindsay through – although he didn't fool those of us who knew that he secretly liked her – for them to decide that they wanted to be bound together forever is a _major_ event. I would have paid dearly to see that happen.

"Lindsay, who have you told? Flack knows – he's the one who called me and told me to get over here."

"_Flack knows?_ I wonder if Danny told him."

"I don't know how he found out, Linds, but he knows, which means that if everyone doesn't know by now, they will. You need to make sure you tell your loved ones before evening edition of The Flack Courier goes to press…"

Lindsay gasped and smacked her palm against her forehead and whispered, "Hannah."


	4. The Crew

**Danny and Lindsay According To…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; this is simply my imagination put to paper.**

**Chapter 4 – The Crew**

Lindsay had to rush to get dressed since she was delayed by Stella's visit. She had very little time to figure out how she was going to tell the rest of the team. Of course, if Flack and Stella knew, she had a very short window of opportunity to break it to them herself. Then there was Aiden and Hannah. This was all too much. She wasn't going to get off until 8:00 and that wasn't a certainty. The best she could do was to make an announcement to them all at one time.

**CSI:NY**

It was 4:30 and the morning crew was getting off and it was Lindsay's lunch time. Lindsay had sent a mass text message out to Hawkes, Sid, and Adam, as well as to Aiden and Hannah, and they had all gathered at the bar and grill a few blocks from the lab. When Danny and Lindsay arrived, Danny could tell that Aiden was not happy about being there without knowing why she was there.

After greeting everyone, Lindsay addressed Aiden. "So, how does it feel, Ms. Burn, to be invited out not knowing what's on the agenda?" Lindsay asked cheekily.

Aiden feigned annoyance. "Lindsay, you texted me while I'm working on a case of my own and I lose the subject I'm trailing and you're playing games with me?"

"And I repeat, how does it feel?" Lindsay's smirk irritated her even more.

Aiden rolled her eyes at her and said, "Look, Lindsay, I'm glad that you and my boy are happy and are having fun at our expense, but I don't have time for this. You'd better make this quick or I'm outta here."

Lindsay knew that this was just Aiden's way and that she meant no harm, but she also knew that she could be quite impatient and she had better get to the point.

"I guess you all are wondering why you've been summoned here."

Her audience nodded.

"Danny and I have an announcement to make." She beamed from ear to ear as she leaned into Danny. "Danny and I got married!"

Instead of the excitement the happy couple expected to see, there was apathy. Hannah asked, "That's all? You made me cancel my last two appointments for this?"

Danny and Lindsay were utterly confused. This was good news. Their friends wanted to see them together, and now that they were together forever, nobody cared.

"We thought you guys would be happy for us."

"We _are_ happy," Hawkes explained. "It's just that with all of this, we thought that you had some earth-shattering news."

Lindsay and Danny were quite disappointed that their friends didn't show the least bit of excitement about their marriage. If that wasn't earth-shattering, what was?

"So, Danny," Aiden asked. "How's Lou doing these days?"

Danny was dumbfounded. They could _not_ have expected this announcement. Before either one of them could ponder it any further, the lights went out.

"What the hell?" Danny asked. That took his mind off of the situation at hand. They all looked around in the dark for a few seconds as the crowd murmured about the surprising state of darkness.

Just as quickly as they went off, the lights came back on. Straight ahead, they saw a banner held by two police officers that said, "Congratulations Danny and Lindsay Messer." There were cheers from the patrons as Danny and Lindsay tried to take it all in. Their friends at the table laughed and Hawkes pointed to the couple and said, "Gotcha!"

They looked at each other in confusion trying to make sense of what had just happened. They were set up! Their friends new all along that they had gotten married and planned this celebration for them since they were not able to attend the wedding. Little did they know that the restaurant was filled with their friends from the lab and from the precinct.

Lindsay finally gathered her thoughts and said the only thing she could say, "You knew!"

Sid said sarcastically, "No, Lindsay, we had _nothing_ to do with this fiasco." He smiled, then rose to his feet and made his way around the table to give her a hug and to shake Danny's hand. "I wish you both the best. I knew it was just a matter of time."

Aiden said, "Yeah, we all did. It took this one," she gestured toward Lindsay, "the longest time to admit it, but look at them now – husband and wife. Messer's married! Can you believe this?"

**CSI:NY**

And so it continued. Everyone there gave their well wishes and expressed their surprise. Their closest friends were surprised at _how_ it was done, but not _that_ it was done. They had sensed something between those two that was masked by their obstinance. Danny fought it tooth and nail, substituting his true feelings for animosity. There was no in-between for him – he was a passionate person by nature, given to extremes. Lindsay finally let him in and allowed herself to believe that he could have deep feelings for her and he could possibly be the one to bring her happiness despite all of the misery he had previously heaped upon her. What they discovered was an enduring love in the last place they expected to find it: in each others' arms.

**CSI:NY**

Well, that's all, folks! Thank you all so much for the reviews and feedback. You have no idea how much the encouragement is appreciated. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have another story in the works that is very different from this one. I make no promises as to when I'll post it, though.


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